Baby boys outnumber girls in Limerick

THE number of baby boys being born in Limerick is considerably greater that the number of baby girls, new figures have revealed.

THE number of baby boys being born in Limerick is considerably greater that the number of baby girls, new figures have revealed.

According to the latest Vital Statistics figures, which were published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) this week, a total of 685 babies were born to Limerick parents during January, February and March.

Some 357 (52.1%) of them were boys while 328 (47.9%) were girls.

Meanwhile, Limerick city continues to have the highest rate of births outside of marriage.

The figures show that 132 (58.1%) of the 227 births recorded in the city during January, February and March of this year were born to mothers who were not married at the time.

However, in more than a fifth (21.1%) of those cases the mother stated that she and the child’s father were living at the same address in the city. This is lower than in previous years when around a third of mothers said they were living at the same address as the father of the baby.

Of the babies registered by women living in County Limerick during thr first quarter of 2013, 137 of the 458 (29.9%) were born to unmarried mothers.

Just under 20% said they were living at the same address as the baby’s father at the time of the birth.

In both the city and county the majority of unmarried mothers were aged under 30.

According to the Central Statistics Office, mothers from the city who gave birth during the first quarter of this were amongst the youngest in the country.

The average age was 29.9 compared to 32.3 in the county -the average age both nationally and in Munster was 32.1.

The CSO figures also show that 15 women from Limerick city and six from the county were aged under 20 when they gave birth between January and March.

In the city, 69 births were recorded in both the 25-29 and 30-34 age groups whereas in the county the highest number (162) was within the 30-34 age group.

There were a total of 28 babies born to women from Limerick who were aged over 40 at the time they gave birth.

The Vital Statistics figures show birth rate in the city is (16.1 births per 1,000 population) above the national average of 15.3. The birth rate in County Limerick is 13.7.

The latest CSO figures, which also outline death rates across the country for the same period show there were two infant deaths across Limerick city and county during the survey period.

A total of 190 men and 186 women died in Limerick during the three-month period.

The most common cause of death in Limerick was due to diseases of the circulatory system.

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